Coast Guard responding to allision, oil spill south of New Orleans

Mar 13th, 2013 · Comments Off on Coast Guard responding to allision, oil spill south of New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard is responding to an allision between a tug pushing a barge and a pipeline near Bayou Perot 30 miles south of New Orleans, Tuesday.

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a report that the 47-foot tug Shanon E. Settoon was pushing a 154-foot oil barge when it allided with a pipeline 6 p.m., Tuesday.

All crew members were able to exit the tug; the captain reportedly suffered second to third-degree degree burns.

A Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65D dolphin helicopter crew and and a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft — Shallow Water from Coast Guard Station Grand Isle responded to the allision.

The MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew confirmed the vessel was on fire.

There have been reports of oil in the water. ES&H has been hired as the oil spill response organization.

“We are aggressively responding with our state and local partners to mitigate the fire and prevent any potential impacts from oil that entered the water, ” said Cmdr. Russ Bowen, incident commander, Sector New Orleans.

The Coast Guard is working with federal, state and local agencies in response to this incident to ensure the safety of responders and contain and clean up any oil that is leaking.

A pipeline burns after an allision with Shanon E. Setton near Bayou Perot 30 miles south of New Orleans, Mar. 12, 2012. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans.